I’ve had this list in the works for a long time but never got around to posting it. I managed to catch a couple of these movies in one weekend and it triggered me on an a quest for my favorite 80’s babes. So here is my top five, completely biased based on my personal preference and strictly for the role they play in the films listed, not their entire body of work.

Dottie (Elizabeth Daily) – Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
Dottie had that tomboy thing going on and her voice was weirdly seductive in a hoarse, scratchy type way. It helped that she worked at a bike shop, (I was hoping for the employee discount) and of course was responsible for Pee Wee giving us this gem: “I’m a loner, Dottie, a rebel.”

Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
She was rebellious, classy and had a sense of humor and style (that jacket with the fringes gets me every time) and don’t forget the cab scene with Ferris’ dad and her Wayfarers.

Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) – Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Homer pick. The pool scene. What more can I say?

Diane Lane (Patty) – Rumble Fish
You could probably interchange Lane’s character in Rumble Fish with Cherry Valance, her role in the Outsiders as it was released in the same year, with similar content (S.E. Hinton) but I preferred Patty. Maybe it was the schoolgirl charm or the way she said Rusty James.

Winona Ryder (Lydia Deetz) – Beetlejuice
The darkhorse candidate (pun?) of the list. When I was really young, Beetle Juice (IMDB has it listed as two words, but I thought it was one?) scared the crap out of me but as I grew up I loved it more and more along with Lydia. Plus, she was a babe in the cartoon version as well.